On the recordFebruary 14, 2011
I rise today to reintroduce the Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America's Security Act. There is little doubt that our immigration system is broken and needs reform. Yet, we can make progress by starting with the laws that already exist. The proposed legislation would enhance our core immigration and enforcement laws for both legal and illegal immigrants. When I first introduced my bill last September, I mentioned that it represents countless hours of conversation and feedback from my constituents. This bill is a common-sense approach on how best to enforce and tighten-up our immigration laws. Of course, securing the actual physical border should remain our top priority. However, we cannot ignore the residual problems caused by a porous border. The weakness of a porous border has been experienced by communities across the country--draining all facets of local resources, including public safety, welfare programs, and medical assistance. By no means is the proposed legislation intended to be a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Rather, it is focused on enforcement and accountability of existing immigration laws and programs. There is much that remains to be done before we can tackle comprehensive immigration reform. But this bill is the next step toward strengthening our immigration laws.
